10 ECW Flops In WWE That Should Have Been Huge
Because great extremists don't always make great entertainers...
Few wrestling promotions will ever match ECW's legacy. Even today, 16 years after the company's dissolution, the three initials are still regularly chanted at wrestling shows around America, and the mere mention of the word "extreme" is often enough to provoke nostalgia among the perennially passionate fanbase.
WWE haven't been shy of producing ECW-themed content since acquiring the trademarks in 2001, albeit to varying degrees of success. Some were tremendous hits (The Rise And Fall Of ECW, One Night Stand 2005), while others were total busts (their ill-conceived idea to revive the brand in 2006), much like the wrestlers WWE acquired from Paul Heyman's promotion themselves.
From Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero to Steve Austin and Mick Foley, plenty of former ECW wrestlers have gone on to become WWE Champions. The company's reputation was for hardcore wrestling, but dozens of world-class athletes passed through their halls, and it's hard to imagine WWE's last few decades being so lined with glory if not for these wrestlers.
Success doesn't always translate from one company to another, however, and while each of these wrestlers entered WWE full of hope and promise, they were all eventually consigned to Vince McMahon's scrapheap...
10. 2 Cold Scorpio
An exciting, innovative high-flier, 2 Cold Scorpio will likely go down as one of his era’s most under-appreciated wrestlers. Joining ECW from WCW in 1994, he regularly worked alongside the company’s biggest stars, and developed a reputation for dragging good-to-great matches from vastly inferior opponents, particularly those more used to the company's trademark hardcore style.
After two years and four World Television Championship reigns, 2 Cold’s skill, personality, and consistency drew the attention of Vince McMahon, who signed him in 1996. Debuting at Survivor Series, Scorpio became Flash Funk - a prototypical Brodus Clay who danced his way to the ring with two 'funkettes'. The gimmick didn’t take-off, however, and Flash was soon shunted down the card.
He eventually reverted to his 2 Cold Scorpio ring name, before becoming part of the J.O.B. Squad in 1998, signifying his slide to irrelevance. WWE could never find a consistent role for him, even as a novelty act, and he was rarely given a chance to showcase his eye-catching in-ring skills. Scorpio was released from his contract shortly after requesting time off in 1999, and made sporadic appearances for ECW later than year, before shifting his focus to Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH.